An environmental group’s complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of External Civil Rights Compliance claims that Atlanta’s planned fire and police training center violates the Civil Rights Act and EPA’s nondiscrimination regulations.
The South River Watershed Alliance and other groups say Atlanta is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by spending $31 million to fund the $90 million project. Under Title VI, EPA has a responsibility to ensure that funds are not being used “to subsidize discrimination based on race, color or national origin.” The suit claims the city is doing so by building the project in a majority Black and Hispanic neighborhood.
Atlanta disputes the allegations, noting the training center has withstood multiple legal and administrative challenges relating to environmental impact.
“The construction activities are strictly following the approved Erosion and Sediment Control Plan and Best Management Practices (BMPs) required by Federal, State and local regulations,” a statement from the city said.
The group argues that construction has already caused environmental problems that disproportionally affect Black and Hispanic residents, who account for about 74% of residents in DeKalb County District 3. In the complaint, the group asks the EPA to:
- Investigate the impact of the clearcutting of the South River Forest on Black and Hispanic communities
- Investigate the alleged dumping of illegal levels of sediment into the South River
- Require Atlanta to pick a different site for the training center
- Condition all future grants and monetary awards to the city on the assurance that it will comply with Title VI and implement environmental justice
The South River Watershed Alliance in August filed a federal lawsuit alleging Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Foundation were in violation of the Clean Water Act as construction allowed sediment to enter Intrenchment Creek Park and harm aquatic life.
“Continuing construction from this site will make that area no longer viable for the aquatic life that’s already there,” Jon Schwartz, attorney representing SRWA, said during a Wednesday hearing. That’s prohibited under the Clean Water Act.”
Credit: Riley Bunch / Riley.Bunch@ajc.com
Credit: Riley Bunch / Riley.Bunch@ajc.com
Simon H. Bloom, an attorney for the Atlanta Police Foundation, said Wednesday, “I keep waiting for actual evidence of irreparable harm, and I still don’t hear or see actual empirical evidence of irreparable harm.”
During the hearing Bloom also noted the arson at a Gwinnett concrete business that torched a number of cement trucks. An anonymous faction of activists opposed to the training center claimed responsibility for the fire in an online post titled “Make Contractors Afraid Again.”
“Sneaking around at night is fun and burning (expletive) is cool,” read the post, which encouraged more destruction.
A spokesman for the group that organized a Monday march at the training center site said the groups behind the arson and lawsuit are separate entities, “but all are contributing to the same important goal.”
Georgia Arson Control is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. No arrests have been made.
The EPA complaint, first reported by Capital B, is the latest legal attempt to halt construction of the training center, which is about 40 percent complete and expected to open in December 2024.
In December 2022, SRWA and the South River Forest Coalition filed an emergency motion seeking to prevent Ryan Millsap and Blackhall Real Estate Phase II from “further destruction” of the property the movie studio founder obtained in a controversial property swap with DeKalb County.
The lawsuit argued the county lacked authority to complete the swap with Millsap. That case remains open in DeKalb County Superior Court.
In February, a Fulton County judge denied an injunction that would have halted construction. Superior Court Judge Thomas A Cox Jr. ruled against DeKalb County resident Amy Taylor, DeKalb County Commissioner Ted Terry and the South River Watershed Alliance, who challenged the land development permits and had environmental concerns, calling “speculative” the argument that continued construction would result in high levels of sediment in Intrenchment Creek.
The judge noted that since the project was approved by both DeKalb County and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, sediment deposited within legal limits is allowed.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The DeKalb County Zoning Boards of Appeals rejected a challenge from Terry and two DeKalb County residents in April, which alleged the city and county overlooked restrictions on sediment discharges and unanimously decided the county’s process to issue permits complied with all requirements.
Terry is also appealing the challenge of the land disturbance permits issued for the training center in the Superior Court of DeKalb County. That case also remains open.
The training center property, off Key Road in southwestern DeKalb County, is owned by Atlanta and leased to the Atlanta Police Foundation.
Concerns over violence and staff safety led the U.S. Geological Survey South Atlantic Water Science Center to stop testing water quality at Intrenchment Creek in February, Vic Engel, the director of the center said in an email. Engel clarified that USGS’s role is as a science agency, not a regulatory agency.
“As the director of the USGS South Atlantic Water Science center, the safety and wellbeing of my employees rests on my shoulders and I’m not willing to put them in a potentially volatile situation with unusual risks to collect data,” he said. “I also find it inappropriate to ask my employees to work in an area that requires a strong police presence 24/7 due to past violence and ongoing protests.”
Neither the city nor DeKalb County ever asked for the monitoring to stop, he added.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Engel said staff members received police escorts for maintenance of the water sensors and later to remove them in February. Without constant maintenance, the sensors’ information quickly becomes inaccurate and unreliable.
Next month, oral arguments will be heard in federal court in the legal battle over the more than 110,000 signatures collected by organizers and submitted to the city in September to begin the verification process.
The day the signatures were turned in, the city announced that it was awaiting the decision by the appeals court to determining whether or not to begin verifying the signatures.
Staff writer Rosie Manins contributed to this report.
